Marathon vs. Sprint (Activity level with HPP)

Many people with HPP know the concept of completing work over time slowly due to pain and fatigue, a common side effect of the disease. The other end of the spectrum is when we finally get energy and no pain we are able to accomplish more in a few hours then others are able to complete in a day. You learn ways to do things more efficiently, safely, and with minimal consequence on the body. The concept of work smarter not harder is a hard won but well worth it lesson if one can do it.

For example, I had a bad spell the night before last and was basically unable to sleep from 930pm till 0400am. I finally managed a few hours and after waking up feeling drugged I got up and tried to have some breakfast and good cup of coffee. But that would just not be enough so back to bed I went for a few hours and finally managing to get out around 1245 in the afternoon. But magically upon waking up I had no pain and my energy, though low, was no longer drugged feeling and manageable. So I got up an started on house work, because I don’t know how long I’ll be up or how many good hours I’ll have before another crash so I pack all the work I can into the few precious hours I have. People who do not suffer from a chronic painful illness will never understand what it is like to easily accomplish the work though small, needs to be done on a fairly regular bases. They take for granted the amount of energy both physical and mental that it takes to complete simple tasks such as laundry and dishes.

I do not live a normal schedule, I sleep when I can, work when I can, run errands when I can, travel when I can. Though my life is run by my disease I do not let it limit what I can or want to do. I just don’t always accomplish things in the same fashion or at the same time as others. I live my day in thirds usually. Kind of like living three mini days in one, which allows me to sprint with my energy and accomplish what I need.